Carrier Quits on America

Americans fighting the good fight to bring our jobs home face a recurring theme: one step forward and two steps back. We take one step forward as we keep corporations and manufacturing here in the U.S.A. and work to get our companies to move some of their jobs home, but at the same time, many American companies continue to turn their back on the middle class and outsource their jobs overseas.

The latest example is Carrier Air Conditioning, who announced last week that it will be moving its manufacturing plant from Huntington, Ind., to Monterrey, Mexico. This means 1,400 Indianans – and Americans – have lost their jobs, which paid $20 per hour.

Mexican workers will be paid $3 per hour.

“We haven't given up the fight, yet,” said Chuck Jones, president of the United Steelworkers union local that represents workers at the Carrier Corp plant. “But Carrier has pretty well indicated that the wage differential is too great and there's not much we can do.”

The move will happen in 2017. And to make matters worse, United Technologies Electronic Controls, a Huntington-based maker of microprocessor controls for HVAC equipment, also announced last week it is moving its operation and eliminating 700 jobs by 2018.

So the total job loss is 2,100.

Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Pence said in a statement on Monday he is “profoundly disappointed” in Carrier's move and offered retraining support for the workers who will be laid off.

Carrier also took advantage of tax incentives and credits from the federal government and the State of Indiana before heading out the door, as the Department of Energy awarded Carrier $5.1 million in clean energy tax credits in December 2013 for its Indianapolis facility. It planned to use the money to “expand production at its Indianapolis facility to meet increasing demand for its eco-friendly condensing gas furnace product line.”

And the Indiana Economic Development Corporation also awarded $520,815 in state incentives to both companies.

“Simply put, the loss of these jobs shows the need for reform in our nation’s capital,” said Pence. “My administration will continue to stand by working Hoosiers and advocate for changes in Washington, D.C., that encourage investment and job growth.”

“We agree with the governor, but wonder: When will Washington act?” asked Bringourjobhome.com founder Frank Spotorno. “When will our tax dollars go to corporations that are moving jobs out of the country? When will the majority of Americans be unable to buy the good made overseas because they don’t have a good-paying job to afford it?”

Two of the leading candidates for president, Donald Trump on the Republican side and Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side, are both advocating in different ways, halting the corporate giveaways and outsourcing of jobs. Is it any wonder why both are doing so well in the polls?

“Free Trade Agreements that are not fair to American workers, tax incentives for companies that move their jobs overseas, and the lack of incentives for companies to bring their jobs home, are all issues the American people want our leaders to focus on now,” said Spotorno. “We also need a national movement to boycott companies like Carrier that are killing the American dream, but also to support those companies that still make it in America.”